Amanda was Course Leader for the bachelor’s degree programmes in Primary Education from 2010 - 2014.  In response to the Donaldson Report, Teaching Scotland’s Future, she was responsible for overseeing the development of the BA (Hons) Primary Education programme which is part of the Humanities and Social Sciences framework for undergraduate students at the University.  This replaced the internationally recognised BEd programme at Strathclyde.

Amanda is responsible for leading the first year community placement. This placement allows BA students from across the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences to spend time working with children in a setting outwith the mainstream primary classroom.  To date, students on this module have contributed well in excess of 87k hours to the community and the University of Strathclyde has gained many new community partners.

Amanda also has a keen interest in the School of Education’s international work. She recently travelled to Lahore, Pakistan to launch a new Postgraduate Certificate in Educational Issues and Impact developed in partnership with the Crescent Model School.  She has been instrumental in enhancing opportunities for students to study and undertake practicum outwith the UK, particularly in the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland. She has travelled to Malawi and Egypt to work with university partners to deliver professional development training and to support course design for initial teacher education.

Amanda teaches Primary Mathematics on the University’s initial teacher education courses.  Her focus on student confidence, mathematical content and pedagogical content knowledge to ensure an holistic approach to educating new teachers of mathematics is highly evaluated.

Amanda had been nominated in a range of categories over the past three years at the annual Student Association Teaching Excellence Awards.  She was presented with the award of Most Supportive Teacher in the University of Strathclyde in 2011 and 2013.  In 2014 she gained the University award of Strathclyder of the Year.

Amanda has presented her work on devolved leadership and student-led professional development at a range of professional conferences over recent years, including conferences hosted by the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers; Holyrood - Teacher Education; The Higher Education Academy - Enhancement Themes; Association for Chartered Teachers in Scotland (ACTS).

Her work with students to promote a culture of creativity and to provide wide ranging opportunities for student-led professional development activities has been described as ‘sector leading’ by external stakeholders. 

Most recently Amanda gave a presentation on Reflections on International Collaborations during a Scoping Mission to China with the Department for International Trade.

• Course development: pedaogogy, student support, assessment

• Leadership in Higher Education

• Member of the writing group that developed the current Professional Standards for teachers in Scotland (The General Teaching Council for Scotland)

• Course Review - internal, national  and international

• International Course Development - Malawi, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, China

• Implementation and development of the use of social media for showcasing students' work and the work of the School of Education (see #StrathBA #StrathPGDE).

•             Primary Mathematics for undergraduate and postgraduate initial teacher education programmes

•             Pedagogy and preparation for placement

•             Personal and professional development planning; Reflective practice

•             Academic programmes for international students studying on undergraduate Education degrees